ASN or BSN ????

I am a nursing student in school, that's just ready to get out ! I'm going to school for an Associates Degree in Nursing, but everyone is telling me that I should stick it out and go for the Bachelor's Degree. I really just want to know the difference salary-wise, career-wise, & educationally-wise. Could someone help me get an understanding of this PLEASE ?????!!!

Where I am, there is no difference salary wise, and not much career wise either. You need an MSN to really go above a staff nurse at my hospital. I am taking a break from school. I have my ADN, and I plan to get my BSN, but I want to enjoy myself, as this is my second college degree in under 9 years and I am just tired of school. I'm saving to go back, but I'm also saving to buy a new car, and I'm going to Cancun next year with my nursing school BFF...once I've had that break to have a bit of fun, I'm going back for my BSN. No one I know of has ever regretted getting a higher level degree. But if you need a break, take it!

Feb 13, '13

Where I am from there is no difference in salary, either. The education includes leadership and public health nursing. Most of these courses can be taken online through a program. The only difference is where you can apply for jobs. MAGNET hospitals will not be hiring ADN nurses anymore. This may not matter in your state, depending where you live. Where I live, that only leaves 2 out of 15 hospitals where ADN nurses can be employed. I do not think you will regret going for your BSN. Just my opinion though!

Feb 13, '13

There are at least a thousand threads already started on here that deal with this topic. Try searching for them, you will get a wealth of opinions. Everyone seems to have one on this topic.

Feb 13, '13

Yes there are 1000000000000 threads on this topic

BUT, where I live, there is no difference in salary, or job description, but most hospitals do not hire new grads with an ASN. BSN is the most sought after, and is the entry level to work in a hospital now days! The way I see it, you will eventually need to get it anyways..might as well get it over with.

You should check with local hospitals to find out which they prefer!

Feb 13, '13

You won't always work in hospitals. I know that it's the very rare student who has even a shred of that in his/her head, when pretty much all they do is focused on bedside care in hospitals. But still. Read on.

What's a profession? Is nursing a profession? What's the basic educational prep for people you think of as professionals? Would you want your chemistry research done by someone with an associate degree? Your child taught high school math or English? Your income tax advising? Sure, there are good people with lower level education who succeed in life, but don't let that "we all have the same license and sit for the same exam and the pay's the same" fool you. Better education makes you better at what you do. There are any number of people who can give you examples of BSNs or MNs who don't know how to take a rectal temp (why does everyone focus on that and bedpans when they think of nursing, anyway?) and marvelous crusty old LPNs who saved the resident's butt one dark and stormy night, but for every single one of those I will see your anecdote and raise you half a dozen godawful errors made by nurses who didn't take the coursework and didn't get exposed to the idea of autonomy in school.

Time: The bachelor's degree takes four years. The associate's degree (AS or ASN) takes ... three and a half, once you count all the prerequisites you're going to have to take before they admit you into the nursing program. And those who say you can work on your BSN while you are working as an RN with an AS don't tell you (and maybe don't know, to be charitable) that many of your course hours from the AS program may not be transferrable, so it won't just be a matter of a semester or two or three. AND working as a nurse is HARD, almost as hard as nursing school ... think you'll have the mental, physical, social, and financial energy for more education at the same time? Oh, and in most jurisdictions you can't sit for the LPN exam and work as one while partway thru a AS or BSN program anymore, either.

Job opportunities: Although the old a-nurse-is-a-nurse-is-a-nurse attitude is fortunately fading away, at entry level for new grads, about the same, and I realize that people who are just starting out have a very incomplete idea of what it means to be a nurse. However, look around the place and see who's working. Are you planning to be older some day? Do you see older nurses working in those entry-level staff or charge positions? If not, where did they all go? Why do you care? Well, suppose you work on a general medical floor and get entranced by cardiac rehabilitation after following a patient who did it. A job comes up in the department, hooray! Oops, BSN only. Or you find your heart drawn to helping underserved women in a public health clinic for high-risk pregnancy. Sorry, BSN only in public health. After five or six years as a staff nurse you have become a resource to new hires and your peers and you realize you have a gift for teaching. You see that a position in staff development has come open, and you are first in line at HR to apply. You got it.... BSN is the minimum. School nursing? BSN. Hurt your back and want to go for a job in case management? BSN. You discover you have a gift for asking, "Why do we do it this way?" and are amazed to find you want to look into jobs in management or nursing research.....BSN minimum. You are starting to get the picture now. Also, many, many practice settings give you a differential for BSN. No, I know, not all, but hey. One more factor.

Growth: The questions in the licensure exams (NCLEX) are developed from errors made in the first year of practice by new grads, and regardless of pass rates from different level programs, anyone in practice can confirm the research: In the first year of work all new grads perform at about the same level as they get their feet under them and get used to the idea of working as an RN. But after that year, the BSNs pull ahead in ways that are related to their higher level of education. Why? Because what we call in the ed biz "psychomotor skills," the things you do with your hands, can be done by anyone with enough practice. Hell, we teach lay people how to do peritoneal dialysis at home or suction tracheostomies. But the understanding of WHY some things are as they are is something you get in better education: more science, more sociology, more psychology, more history, a basic statistics class, exposure to more clinical settings (I doubt if you'll get a full semester in peds, psych, OB, or any public health at all in any AS program) give you the insight to ask better questions and make better decisions.

Well, if you really want to be a NURSE, don't you want to find yourself in the camp of folks who are grateful they learned more, rather than the ones who find they had to for advancement or competence and wish they'd done it in the first place? My answer is clear.

I agree that everyone should eventually get their BSN, I don't see why people can not take steps, if there is no other way.

Like I have said before
I'm a LPN, not crusty only 3 years
I'm in a RN ADN program
And continuing
BSN,NP,DNP

Always keep learning!!!!

You'll never regret it.

Keep up that motivation!

The data on continuing from ADN to MSN is dismal, but hopefully that has change since the last update in 2008 (12% get a BSN, 5% get a MSN with an average of 11.5 years between).

Feb 13, '13

Do the BSN. Where I am, new ADN grads are having a hard time finding work. New BSN grads are preferred. So yes, the BSN can be more expensive but you have a better choice of getting employment after.

Feb 14, '13

My advice would be to do the BSN route. If you get your ADN, in my area, finding employment will be a little more difficult but not unheard of.

Last semester, my last semester, I went to a nursing conference as well as a job fair to explore and get info since many statewide hospitals were going to be there for information. I would say over 90% wanted a BSN for entry level nurses. If you get your ADN, I would suggest you start for your BSN right away. There are many reputable schools who have online BSN programs that can be done in 18 months or so.

Good luck on your decision, im sure you will do whats best for you!!

oh btw, I have learned soooo much from LPN's, diploma nurses, ADN's and BSN's educated nurses - there are some great nurses out there from all walks of education!!

Feb 15, '13

Finish the ASN/ADN, then go on to get your BSN -- much cheaper that way! I will get my ADN this May, then I'm going to take a year or two off before going back to an RN-to-BSN bridge program.

The only difference between the two here is the ability to get into management (which I don't want to do anyway -- I'm changing careers to get OUT of management!), but with employer tuition reimbursement covering part of the cost (all the facilities here offer at least some tuition reimbursement) and the possibility of it making a difference in hiring in other areas of the country (I'm only staying here until my kid is out of school), I'd be a fool to not go ahead and finish up the BSN program.

You won't always work in hospitals. I know that it's the very rare student who has even a shred of that in his/her head, when pretty much all they do is focused on bedside care in hospitals. But still. Read on.

What's a profession? Is nursing a profession? What's the basic educational prep for people you think of as professionals? Would you want your chemistry research done by someone with an associate degree? Your child taught high school math or English? Your income tax advising? Sure, there are good people with lower level education who succeed in life, but don't let that "we all have the same license and sit for the same exam and the pay's the same" fool you. Better education makes you better at what you do. There are any number of people who can give you examples of BSNs or MNs who don't know how to take a rectal temp (why does everyone focus on that and bedpans when they think of nursing, anyway?) and marvelous crusty old LPNs who saved the resident's butt one dark and stormy night, but for every single one of those I will see your anecdote and raise you half a dozen godawful errors made by nurses who didn't take the coursework and didn't get exposed to the idea of autonomy in school.

Time: The bachelor's degree takes four years. The associate's degree (AS or ASN) takes ... three and a half, once you count all the prerequisites you're going to have to take before they admit you into the nursing program. And those who say you can work on your BSN while you are working as an RN with an AS don't tell you (and maybe don't know, to be charitable) that many of your course hours from the AS program may not be transferrable, so it won't just be a matter of a semester or two or three. AND working as a nurse is HARD, almost as hard as nursing school ... think you'll have the mental, physical, social, and financial energy for more education at the same time? Oh, and in most jurisdictions you can't sit for the LPN exam and work as one while partway thru a AS or BSN program anymore, either.

Job opportunities: Although the old a-nurse-is-a-nurse-is-a-nurse attitude is fortunately fading away, at entry level for new grads, about the same, and I realize that people who are just starting out have a very incomplete idea of what it means to be a nurse. However, look around the place and see who's working. Are you planning to be older some day? Do you see older nurses working in those entry-level staff or charge positions? If not, where did they all go? Why do you care? Well, suppose you work on a general medical floor and get entranced by cardiac rehabilitation after following a patient who did it. A job comes up in the department, hooray! Oops, BSN only. Or you find your heart drawn to helping underserved women in a public health clinic for high-risk pregnancy. Sorry, BSN only in public health. After five or six years as a staff nurse you have become a resource to new hires and your peers and you realize you have a gift for teaching. You see that a position in staff development has come open, and you are first in line at HR to apply. You got it.... BSN is the minimum. School nursing? BSN. Hurt your back and want to go for a job in case management? BSN. You discover you have a gift for asking, "Why do we do it this way?" and are amazed to find you want to look into jobs in management or nursing research.....BSN minimum. You are starting to get the picture now. Also, many, many practice settings give you a differential for BSN. No, I know, not all, but hey. One more factor.

Growth: The questions in the licensure exams (NCLEX) are developed from errors made in the first year of practice by new grads, and regardless of pass rates from different level programs, anyone in practice can confirm the research: In the first year of work all new grads perform at about the same level as they get their feet under them and get used to the idea of working as an RN. But after that year, the BSNs pull ahead in ways that are related to their higher level of education. Why? Because what we call in the ed biz "psychomotor skills," the things you do with your hands, can be done by anyone with enough practice. Hell, we teach lay people how to do peritoneal dialysis at home or suction tracheostomies. But the understanding of WHY some things are as they are is something you get in better education: more science, more sociology, more psychology, more history, a basic statistics class, exposure to more clinical settings (I doubt if you'll get a full semester in peds, psych, OB, or any public health at all in any AS program) give you the insight to ask better questions and make better decisions.

Well, if you really want to be a NURSE, don't you want to find yourself in the camp of folks who are grateful they learned more, rather than the ones who find they had to for advancement or competence and wish they'd done it in the first place? My answer is clear.